All shapeshifters turned into their animal form in a split of a second. I stood on the platform a few meters away from all of them and observed the situation terrified. I looked at Sariel. He was smiling wickedly as if the werewolves did something he was hoping for. Declan as a red-fur wolf stood as a leader. He was glaring at Sariel with his fiery eyes. Sariel spread his arms wide open, provoking him to attack, and Declan's fury had already overpowered his rationality. He charged up ahead at Sariel. The others followed. "No!" I screamed, but my scream died among the snarling sounds of fury. Suddenly, Mr. Gotha and three other vampires barged from the back of the audience hall. They must have already been prepared to take action in case of attack. A few enraged wolves stormed at them while Declan and the rest of the wolves charged at Sariel. Sariel didn't move an inch. He just waited for the wolves to come at him at their full speed. Declan jumped to

I was walking along the castle corridor following Mr. Gotha. We were clearly going towards the north wing. I only went there once while taking a tour around the castle with Martha, and even there I wasn't allowed to enter any of those rooms, since they were off-limits as the Duke's private chambers. While walking I kept clenching my fists, encouraging myself to keep my emotions at a minimum level and focus solely on business. I knew that I could be confident and strict as long as I keep it all around my area of expertise. I assumed that we were going to the Duke's study room which I was told was combined with a grand library. I was sincerely looking forward to seeing it since until now I could only look at its door… We were getting closer, and I even became a little excited about entering that grand library, but Mr. Gotha passed Duke's study room and kept walking. "Um… Am I not supposed to meet the Duke in here?" I pointed at the door we passed. "Mast

My office was spacious and kind of luxurious. I hadn't been to many offices before, but I had seen some in movies and TV series. Each time I saw an elegant wooden desk, a comfortable office chair, carefully designed cabinets, or an exquisite coffee table with sofa and armchairs, it was a place that belonged to someone from the higher-ups. It could be the general manager's office or the department director's office. The place where I was standing, a place that was supposed to be my office, looked exactly like the ones I saw on the TV screen. I felt strange. I walked around delicately stroking the desktop and my new, top-class laptop. I even had my very own coffee machine. It was all so different from how I used to work, although it was hard to compare my current situation with sitting on the bed or floor with a laptop on my knees while drinking the remains of cold coffee that I made myself several hours earlier. I knew that my abilities should have given me a five-digit month

My body started to shiver when I began to process Gabriel's words. "H-how?" I mumbled, my gaze pleading him to say more. He smirked, then continued, "Twenty years ago, when the old Duke of Calvet was still alive, Sariel enjoyed his life as a young master. Many women craved him, and many women belonged to him. He could almost bathe in the blood of his marked ones. Everything changed when he fell in love with one and started dismissing others." "It sounds like a romantic story." I smiled sourly while feeling a dull pain in my heart as if I were actually jealous of the one he once loved. "It was, and it was a big scandal," Gabriel sighed. "He rejected the daughter of the Marquess of Balliol, and openly claimed that he would turn his loved one and marry her." I envied that human girl more and more, even knowing that their story didn't end well. "He must have been committed, so what went wrong?" I waited impatiently for the rest of the stor

I wondered how much time I had until the news that my report was the reason people got fired would spread throughout the entire company. I started thinking that perhaps it would be wiser to hire bodyguards. I could easily handle a few humans by myself, but fighting against an enraged crowd could be troublesome. Certainly, the rational and, this time, optimistic part of my brain told me that I was overreacting and that nothing bad would happen. In normal circumstances, I would expect people to fear me more than openly declare war against me, but my situation was far from normal. I sighed heavily, then got up, getting ready to leave the CFO's office. "Goodbye, Mr. Foubert." I smiled faintly, walking towards the door. "See you tomorrow, Ms. Leber." He winked at me teasingly. I opened the door and bumped into someone. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you.." I muttered, straightening my nose after it hit that person's hard male chest. I looked up and saw a